Best Memorial Day Recipes: Italian Pasta Salad

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 30

Serves 8 to 12

This Italian pasta salad is one of our favorite Memorial Day recipes!

Ingredients

1 pound fusilli or rotini pasta
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1½ cups mini fresh mozzarella cheese balls, 8 ounces
1 medium red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced
½ English cucumber, diced
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
¾ cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
¾ cup sliced pepperoncini
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 recipe Italian Dressing
1½ teaspoons sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare the pasta according to the package instructions, cooking until slightly past al dente. Drain and toss with a drizzle of olive oil to prevent sticking. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Transfer the cooled pasta to a large bowl and add the cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, red pepper, cucumber, red onion, olives, pepperoncini, and parsley. Toss to combine, then add the dressing, salt, and several grinds of pepper and toss again.
Stir in the basil and season to taste. Garnish with more basil and serve.

Find it online at https://dailycove.info/memorial-day-recipes/%3C/em%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-84788":{"type":"food","name":"Best Memorial Day Recipes: Italian Pasta Salad","slug":"wprm-best-memorial-day-recipes-italian-pasta-salad","originalServings":"8","originalServingsParsed":8,"currentServings":"8","currentServingsParsed":8,"currentServingsFormatted":"8","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"rating":{"count":5,"total":25,"average":5,"type":{"comment":0,"no_comment":0,"user":5},"user":0},"originalSystem":0,"currentSystem":0,"ingredients":[{"uid":0,"amount":"1","unit":"pound","name":"fusilli or rotini pasta","notes":"","link":{"url":"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3xVT8xE","nofollow":"nofollow"},"unit_id":4775,"id":5753,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"1","unit":"pound","unitParsed":"pound"}}},{"uid":1,"amount":"","unit":"","name":"Extra-virgin olive oil","notes":"for drizzling","link":{"url":"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3S6kgB8","nofollow":"nofollow"},"id":1037,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"uid":2,"amount":"2","unit":"cups","name":"cherry tomatoes","notes":"halved","link":{"url":"https:\/\/amzn.to\/46kG4il","nofollow":"nofollow"},"unit_id":4669,"id":1036,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"2","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"}}},{"uid":3,"amount":"1\u00bd","unit":"cups","name":"mini fresh mozzarella cheese balls","notes":"8 ounces","link":{"url":"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3zKi3oE","nofollow":"nofollow"},"unit_id":4669,"id":5754,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"1\u00bd","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"}}},{"uid":4,"amount":"1","unit":"","name":"medium red bell pepper","notes":"stemmed, seeded, and diced","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"id":5157,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"1","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"uid":5,"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"","name":"English cucumber","notes":"diced","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"id":1621,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"uid":6,"amount":"1","unit":"cup","name":"thinly sliced red onion","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4675,"id":1646,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"1","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":7,"amount":"\u00be","unit":"cup","name":"kalamata olives","notes":"pitted and halved","link":{"url":"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3S8e4bx","nofollow":"nofollow"},"unit_id":4675,"id":2759,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"\u00be","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":8,"amount":"\u00be","unit":"cup","name":"sliced pepperoncini","notes":"","link":{"url":"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3xZWks7","nofollow":"nofollow"},"unit_id":4675,"id":5755,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"\u00be","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":9,"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"cup","name":"chopped fresh parsley","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4675,"id":1469,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":10,"amount":"1","unit":"recipe","name":"Italian Dressing","notes":"","link":{"url":"https:\/\/www.loveandlemons.com\/italian-dressing-recipe\/","nofollow":"nofollow"},"unit_id":4776,"id":4361,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"1","unit":"recipe","unitParsed":"recipe"}}},{"uid":11,"amount":"1\u00bd","unit":"teaspoons","name":"sea salt","notes":"","link":{"url":"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/365-Everyday-Value-Salt-Fine\/dp\/B074J7X1DW?&linkCode=sl1&tag=loveandlemobl-at-rc-ingli-20&linkId=8f6a13f00ff77c4b50139a7ddcd95527&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl","nofollow":"nofollow"},"unit_id":4682,"id":1055,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"1\u00bd","unit":"teaspoons","unitParsed":"teaspoons"}}},{"uid":12,"amount":"","unit":"","name":"Freshly ground black pepper","notes":"","link":{"url":"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Frontier-Pepper-Medium-1-8-Ounce-Bottle\/dp\/B0001M113C?&linkCode=sl1&tag=loveandlemobl-at-rc-ingli-20&linkId=425920749191bb00c5b44bbe7fb5cb9f&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl","nofollow":"nofollow"},"id":1069,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"uid":13,"amount":"1","unit":"cup","name":"fresh basil leaves","notes":"plus more for garnish","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4675,"id":1542,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"1","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}}],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0}}}